Screenshot API

The CaptureKit Screenshot API turns any URL into an image. The response body is the screenshot itself (PNG by default, or JPEG/WebP), ready to save, display or upload to your storage.

• Website Screenshot API — Browser-like Screenshot API that captures webpages as PNG/JPEG/WebP or PDF for previews, QA, reporting, monitoring, and archiving no headless setup.

Use it for link previews, visual monitoring, QA, reporting, archiving or social cards — without running Puppeteer or Playwright yourself.

Endpoint	Request	Credits
Website Screenshot API	GET /v1/capture	1

Table of contents

• How it works
• Website Screenshot API
• Code examples in other languages
• Use cases
• Why CaptureKit?
• FAQ
• Related repositories
• Support

How it works

1. Create a CaptureKit account and copy your API key from the dashboard.
2. Call https://api.capturekit.dev with the header x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY.
3. Use the result in your app — no infrastructure to run.

export CAPTUREKIT_API_KEY="your-api-key"
pip install requests        # Python
# TypeScript: Node.js 18+ (native fetch), run with `npx tsx file.ts`

Website Screenshot API

Browser-like Screenshot API that captures webpages as PNG/JPEG/WebP or PDF for previews, QA, reporting, monitoring, and archiving no headless setup.

GET https://api.capturekit.dev/v1/capture · 1 credit per request · API reference

Request parameters

Parameter	In	Type	Required	Description
url	query	string	✅	The URL of the webpage to capture. Examples: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pokemon
format	query	string (jpeg, jpg, pdf, png, webp)	—	The output format of the screenshot.
device	query	string (galaxy_fold4, galaxy_s23, galaxy_s23_ultra, galaxy_s8, huawei_mate_50_pro, huawei_p60_pro)	—	The device type to emulate for the screenshot.
full_page	query	boolean	—	Capture the entire page instead of just the visible viewport.
full_page_scroll	query	boolean	—	Scroll the page to fully load lazy-loaded elements before capturing a full-page screenshot.
full_page_scroll_duration	query	number	—	Time in milliseconds for scrolling before capturing the full page.
viewport_width	query	number	—	The width of the browser viewport in pixels.
viewport_height	query	number	—	The height of the browser viewport in pixels.
scale_factor	query	number	—	The scale factor for high-resolution screenshots.
image_quality	query	string	—	Generate images with custom quality settings.
selector	query	string	—	Capture a specific element on the page instead of the full viewport.
cache	query	boolean	—	Cache the response.
cache_ttl	query	number	—	Cache the response for a custom TTL (in seconds).
remove_selectors	query	string	—	A comma-separated list of elements to hide before capturing (e.g., ads, popups).
remove_cookie_banners	query	boolean	—	Automatically remove cookie banners before capturing.
remove_ads	query	boolean	—	Automatically remove ads before capturing.
block_resources	query	string (document, eventsource, fetch, font, image, manifest)	—	Comma-separated list of resource types to block (e.g., “image,stylesheet,font”).
block_urls	query	string	—	Comma-separated list of URL patterns to block (e.g., “analytics,tracking,advertisement”).
delay	query	number	—	Delay in seconds before capturing the screenshot.
wait_until	query	array (domcontentloaded, load, networkidle0, networkidle2)	—	Define when to capture.
wait_for_selector	query	string	—	Wait for a specific element to appear before taking the screenshot.
proxy	query	string	—	Specify a proxy server to route your request through.
s3_secret_key	query	string	—	AWS S3 secret access key.
s3_access_key_id	query	string	—	AWS S3 access key ID.
s3_bucket	query	string	—	The S3 bucket name where the screenshot will be uploaded.
s3_object_key	query	string	—	The filename for the S3 object (auto-generated if not provided).
s3_region	query	string	—	AWS S3 region for storage.
storage_endpoint	query	string	—	Leave this field empty for AWS S3. Only specify a value if required. S3-compatible storage services are supported, for example, use https://.r2.cloudflarestorage.com for Cloudflare R2.
s3_url	query	boolean	—	Use S3 storage for screenshots. The S3 URL will be returned in the response.

Python example

import os

import requests

API_KEY = os.environ["CAPTUREKIT_API_KEY"]
HEADERS = {"x-api-key": API_KEY}

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.capturekit.dev/v1/capture",
    headers=HEADERS,
    params={
        "url": "https://github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs",
        "format": "png",
    },
    timeout=120,
)
response.raise_for_status()

with open("screenshot.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(response.content)
print("Saved screenshot.png", len(response.content), "bytes")

TypeScript example

import { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const headers = { "x-api-key": process.env.CAPTUREKIT_API_KEY!, "Content-Type": "application/json" };

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  "url": "https://github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs",
  "format": "png",
});

const response = await fetch(`https://api.capturekit.dev/v1/capture?${params}`, { headers });
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);

await writeFile("screenshot.png", Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer()));
console.log("Saved screenshot.png");

Output

The response body is the generated file (saved as screenshot.png in every example). Error responses are JSON with an explanatory message.

Code examples in other languages

Ready-to-run examples live in examples/; each reads your key from CAPTUREKIT_API_KEY.

Language	capture
cURL (Bash)	capture.sh
PHP	capture.php
C#	Capture.cs
Go	capture.go
Java	CaptureExample.java
Ruby	capture.rb
Node.js	capture.mjs

Use cases

• Link previews & thumbnails — Generate website thumbnails for directories, CRMs and dashboards.
• Visual monitoring — Capture pages on a schedule and compare them over time.
• QA & regression testing — Snapshot pages across viewports before and after a release.
• Reporting & archiving — Keep visual proof of pages, prices or ads at a point in time.

Why CaptureKit?

• Screenshots as a service — the response body is the image or PDF; save it or upload it straight to your S3 bucket.
• Pixel-perfect options — full page, viewport size, scale factor, element selector, 18 mobile/tablet devices, delays and wait conditions.
• Clean pages — remove cookie banners, ads and any CSS selector before capturing.
• Beyond screenshots — extract content (metadata, links, HTML, Markdown) or get an AI analysis of any page.
• Copy-paste examples — Python and TypeScript in each README, 7 more languages in examples/.

FAQ

How do I authenticate?

Create an account on CaptureKit, copy your API key and send it in the x-api-key header of every request to https://api.capturekit.dev.

How much does a request cost?

Credits per call: /v1/capture 1. See CaptureKit pricing.

What does the API return?

The response body is the file itself (image or document). Save it directly to disk or stream it to your storage — every example in this repository writes the file locally.

Which image formats are supported?

png (default), jpeg/jpg, webp, and pdf — set format.

Can I remove cookie banners and ads?

Yes: remove_cookie_banners=true, remove_ads=true, or hide anything with remove_selectors.

Can the screenshot go straight to my bucket?

Yes, pass your S3-compatible storage parameters (s3_bucket, s3_object_key, …) — see the reference.

Which languages are supported?

Any language that can make an HTTP request. This README shows Python and TypeScript; the examples/ folder contains cURL, PHP, C#, Go, Java, Ruby and Node.js.

Related repositories

• Full Page Screenshot API
• Website to PDF API
• Mobile Screenshot API
• Website Content API
• AI Website Analyzer API
• Website Crawler API
• All CaptureKit repositories

Support

• 💬 Join the Discord to ask questions and share what you build.
• 📚 Read the API reference.
• 🔑 Get your API key.

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_{Built by CaptureKit. Examples are released under the MIT license.}